PLEASE
NOTE:
The Supergirl
(1984) and Village
Of The Damned
(1960) Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through
their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Here
are a new set of distinctive genre films, from B-movies with knowing
about to a few classics...

Arguably
the greatest 'haunted house' movie of all time and one that has been
ripped off more times than one can count (especially in recent films
like The
Conjuring,
Insidious,
and The
Ring)
is Peter Medak's The
Changeling
(1980). Finally getting the HD treatment that it deserves and packed
with expansive extras, this is the definitive version of the film and
a must see for anyone who enjoys a good ghost story.

Starring
George C. Scott, The
Changeling
centers around a classical film composer who tragically loses his
wife and daughter in a freak car accident. As he travels to teach
music at a university, the house that he is staying in is haunted.
Featuring some shocking moments that have been praised by Spielberg
and Scorsese, one of the greatest seance scenes on cinema, and a very
creepy rubber ball... this film is simply a classic!

The
film also stars Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, and
John Colicos.

Remastered
in 4K and presented on 1080p Blu-ray disc, the film has a 1.85:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a nice sounding English 5.1 mix, both of
which bring the film to life in much more shocking detail than
previous versions. The film was previously only available on a
barebones DVD edition in the early years of the format so this is a
definite upgrade.

The
Music Of The Changeling:
Interview With Music Arranger Kenneth Wannberg

Building
The House Of Horror:
Interview With Art Director Reuben Freed

The
Psychotronic Tourist:
The Changeling

Master
of Horror Mick Garris On The Changeling

Poster
& Still Gallery

Trailer

TV
Spot

There's
also a limited edition version available on the official Severin
Films website (www.severin-films.com)
that features an exclusive slip case and the CD soundtrack by Kenneth
Wannberg that's incredible!

I've
always been a huge fan of the Predator
films, even though none of the sequels can really top the near
perfect Schwarzenegger classic. However, over the years there has
been much gripe amongst the movie community that the Blu-ray transfer
of the first Predator
film was lacking in a crappy transfer that was never really
satisfactory. Now we have the new 3-film Predator
4K Set
(1987, 1990,
2010) set.

The
original's HD transfer has (mostly) been improved in this new 4K UHD
release, which also includes the two sequels Predator
2
(1990) and Predators
(2010). This release is six discs and features each film on both new
4K Ultra HD 2160p transfers as well as the original 1080p Blu-ray
releases that have been on the market. This new 4K scan of Predator
is only reflected on the 4K UHD disc and not on the Blu-ray (which
may be a turnoff to those who can't play the new format properly at
home). The three films are available separately or in this new
collection, which streets a month prior to the new film The
Predator
(2018) hitting theaters.

Predator
(1987)

One
of the best Schwarzenegger films ever, not to mention one of the best
creature features (and action films) ever is John McTiernan's
Predator.
Highly quotable and filled to the brim with fun characters, the film
was the first to introduce Stan Winston's nightmarish alien in
psychical (and still its best) form. The film also stars Carl
Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Shane Black (whose directing the new
film), Bill Duke, and Jesse Ventura to name a few.

Set
in a jungle in Central America, an elite group of badass commandos
led by Major Dutch Schaeffer (Schwarzenegger), embark on a CIA
mission to clear out a guerrilla stronghold and rescue the remaining
hostages therein. While at what first seems like a routine mission
for men of this caliber, they are soon caught off guard. Once they
get there, they realize the alien Predator has beat them to the punch
and has a knack for hunting humans for sport.

Predator
2
(1990)

Changing
the jungle setting to an alternate Los Angeles in the year 1997,
street gangs and drug wars are running amok. A Federal Agent (Danny
Glover) is hot on the trail of the death of several Colombian and
Jamaican drug dealers and soon realizes that they have been the prey
of the Predator! Soon, Glover has to go against the Alien beast in a
fight for this life! The film also stars Gary Busey, Ruben Blades,
Bill Paxton, and Kevin Peter Hall returns as the Predator. Stephen
Hopkins (1998's Lost
in Space
remake) directed this entry.

Predators
(2010)

Filmmaker
Robert Rodriguez (Sin
City,
Desperado)
produced this new entry in the franchise, which has an interesting
spin on the series' narrative. Here a group of assassins from all
over the planet Earth (led by Adrien Brody) are marooned on an alien
planet and become pieces in a Predator hunting game. The film stars
Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, and
Laurence Fishburne and is directed by Nimrod Antal (Metallica:
Through the Never).

Each
film is presented in 2160p HECV/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition images on 4K UHD discs and
1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratios. They also have English DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that have been slightly tweaked for
the 4K release. The films all look great on the new format save some
film grain that has always been there on every release of the first
two films.

Predators
was shot digitally so obviously it looks the best in 2160p of the
three. The first Predator film does look more contrasty than
previous releases and all in all I think is an improvement. I'm sure
this is a film that will continue to be quietly tweaked in the years
to come. Also included are the 1080p Blu-ray discs with the same
aspect ratio and sound mixes.

A
digital copy is also included that features all three films.

Special
Features...

Predator:
Evolution of a Species-Hunters of Extreme Perfection

Audio
Commentary by Director John McTiernan on the first film

Text
Commentary by Film Historian Eric Lichtenfeld

If
It Bleeds, We Can Kill It: The Making of Predator

Inside
the Predator
featurettes

Special
Effects featurettes

Short
Takes with the Filmmakers

Deleted
Scenes and Outtakes

Photo
Gallery and Predator Profile

and
original supplements from the prior Blu-ray editions of the films.

Another
entry in Arrow's Japanese Yakuza film collection, Japanese action
director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle
Royale)
directs Street
Mobster
(1972) which tells the story of a bloodthirsty thug caught in-between
a turf war on the rough city streets of Kuwazaki. This film features
many of the same collaborators as the infamous Battles
Without Honors and Humanity
(reviewed elsewhere on this site and also released from Arrow) and
will appease Yakuza movie fans the world over with its beautiful
cinematography and hard hitting violence.

Street
Mobster
stars Bunta Sugawara, Noboru Ando, and Mayumi Nagisa.

The
film looks great in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a
2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and the original Japanese original
uncompressed mono audio mix. There's a little bit of grain during
some of the darker scenes of the film but considering its age it
looks fine with few signs of compression.

FIRST
PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing
on the film by the great film scholar Jasper Sharp

Perhaps
the first female-led superhero theatrical feature film, Jeannot
Szwarc's Supergirl
(1984) starring Helen Slater, finally gets a updated treatment on
Blu-ray thanks to Warner Archive. Following the success of the
Christopher Reeve Superman
films (which we know got worse as they went along), this nearly lost
film has some of the same visuals and is shot in a similar fashion as
those original Richard Donner classics. However pretty dated to
today's standards, the film hasn't aged too well but still manages to
be entertaining despite some corny moments.

Turns
out that part of Krypton did live on and Superman wasn't the only one
of his kind. Argo City, home of his uncle Zor-El (Simon Ward) and his
wife Alura (Mia Farrow). Saved by the wizardry of Zaltar (Peter
O'Toole) and the Omegahedron, Kara is Superman's Kryptonian cousin
and wears the same symbol of hope. This time, she has to face off on
the planet earth in an effort to to rescue it from Selena (Faye
Dunaway) - a sorceress of equal power. Going under the alias of
Linda Lee, Supergirl discovers that Earth is quite different than
Argo City.

The
International Cut of the film is presented in 1080p high definition
with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and an English DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless (48kHz, 24-bit) mix, the film looks and
sounds fantastic on Blu-ray disc in this nice restoration, even if
the original 6-track 70mm blow-up soundmaster is apparently missing
for now. The film was shot by Return
of the Jedi's
cinematographer Alan Hume (also DP on a few Bond films) and has been
painstakingly restored to HD. Szwarc (Bug,
Jaws
2)
apparently liked this version best.

Also
included is an Extended Cut of the film in standard definition only,
placed on a separate DVD with an anamorphically
enhanced
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital mix.
It doesn't look as good as the Blu-ray obviously with signs of
compression evident with the format. This is likely the best that
the film will look in the immediate future as some of the original
film elements have been lost over time.

Supergirl
is fun to look back on for nostalgia but it really isn't too strong
of a film. Yet, the HD presentation here is nice and worth checking
out if you are a fan of have always been curious, like I was, to see
this. It seems to have been swept under the rug by Warner Bros and
DC until now so I'm not quite sure why it's resurfaced now, save
rights issues and the long-term success of the hit TV series. Still,
it's nice to own for archival purposes.

Last
but definitely not least is one of the all-time classic British
horror films, Wolf Rilla'sVillage
Of The Damned
(1960) is a still-creepy tale of a small, quiet town where unusual
events start adding up to unexpected terror. At the same time,
without a baby boom, many of the women there suddenly become
pregnant. Coincidence? Seasonal encouragement? With no baby boom,
it is odd, but that I ignored, then the children are born and other
odd things start to slowly happen. Then worse until nothing turns
out to be innocent coincidence every again!

The
adults in the community quickly have to rally to see what they can do
and getting outside help (What do they tell them? How can they
explain something they don't even understand is happening?) or just
survive as the trouble skyrockets. The children all have a certain
kind of blond hair and when their eyes glow, people die!

George
Sanders, Barbara Shelley and Michael Gwynn lead a surprisingly solid
cast in this early 'bad child' classic that inspired a sequel at the
time and a remake (or maybe a continuation?) by John Carpenter in the
1990s that had mixed results then, but has aged oddly and become
creepy in its own, unexpected way. Originally made by the underrated
U.K. division of MGM when U.S. money was still being kept in the
country, Warner Bros. now owns the film and has delivered a great new
restoration via their great Warner Archive collection on Blu-ray.
All serious film fans, especially of horror, will love this one, plus
the screenplay was co-written by the great Stirling Silliphant!

The
1080p 1.78 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer rarely shows the age of the materials used, this is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film
and the original elements were in tact enough to deliver this very
clear and detailed presentation that proves yet again how great
monochrome film can look in HD. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0
Mono lossless mix sounds great like it is from a well-preserved
magnetic soundmaster. Worthy of anything Criterion or Warner itself
has issued from the time like this, it is one of the best back
catalog releases of the year.

We
sadly only get one extra, but it is an exceptional feature length
audio commentary track by writer and film scholar Steve Haberman who
talks about the film, its history and a great deal of excellent,
detailed information on the industry at the time, plus the genre.

To
order either Supergirl
(1984) and/or the Village
Of The Damned
(1960) Warner Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many
more great web-exclusive releases at: